Pressemelding: HIV Positive Students Denied Education

I feel that, being a helping hand in the formulation and implementation of government policies, the ministry should be leading in condemning discrimination of students and the all the country’s citizens on the basis of their HIV status. To realise that the same ministry is collaborating with the Russian government to deny students an opportunity to learn because they are HIV positive is both disturbing and unacceptable.Upon seeing this call for applications, my first impression was that it was a Zimbabwean government requirement for all students who wanted support to study abroad. Further, research revealed that it was a Russian government requirement for foreign students who want to come and study in their country. Representing myself and my institution, the Students and Youth Working on reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT), we feel that this action by the Russian government smacks of double standards and discrimination of the worst type.Russia as part of the G8 nations, spending millions of dollars in aid and funding for HIV related programmes in Africa and the developing world should know that a greater chunk of their money is being spent on anti-stigma and fight-discrimination campaigns. For the same country which contributes a lot of resources to this cause to then be found to be fuelling stigma and discrimination through ill conceived discriminatory policies is like giving with a right hand and taking with the left.The actions of the ministry and Russian government defy international and national policies and declarations. We believe in light of the Universal Access to Treatment, Care and Support by 2010 target, the two should be instilling hope in students by offering HIV positive students equal opportunities to access education. Young people living positively should be given all the support they need throughout to acquire education. Denying education to HIV positive students is not only violating the young people’s right to education which the Zimbabwean government, Russia along with all G8 countries should be championing but is a breach of the Zimbabwe National HIV/AIDS Policy.The Zimbabwe National HIV/AIDS Policy is very clear about the rights of people to access education – “There shall be no discrimination against people who test positive to HIV with respect to education…” Although the same policy admits that for immigration purposes to study, Zimbabweans might be required to undergo mandatory testing, the policy remains clear that such a policy “will not contribute to prevention of HIV and merely stigmatise people with HIV/AIDS.” One wonders why the Zimbabwean government allows for discrimination to be perpetrated among its students in the name of aid.In the case of Russia, the decision to screen students for HIV is a gross violation of the Edinburgh Declaration of June 2005 in which representatives from the G8, European and African countries pledged not only to fund HIV initiatives but also to fight stigma. In this declaration, it was agreed “That G8 countries support national programs to reduce stigma regarding HIV/AIDS in particular, and sexual and reproductive health matters in general.”Russia’s policy is a true case of double standards where the country is spending a lot of resources to respond to HIV but fail the sincerity test of practicing what they purportedly support.We should reckon that both the Zimbabwean ministry and the Russian government have departed from the founding principles of HIV responses. Non-discrimination is at the core of positive living and well being of people living with HIV.This deliberate discrimination of HIV positive people also gives an idea that our policymakers assume that HIV positive persons are bound to die in the near future. What that means is that the ministry has not yet embraced the tenets of positive living and most importantly, the taking up of treatment to live a longer and normal life. We wonder how the ministry and wealthy donor countries will live up to what is expected of them - to deliver for HIV positive students on campus and ensure that they have access to treatment, care and support services on campus. We doubt they would succeed considering that they have shown the highest disregard for the rights of HIV positive students.As Zimbabweans, do we really need support with strings attached? Worse still, support that discriminates against some citizens of Zimbabwe! Students in Zimbabwe must reject support that discriminates against Zimbabwean citizens because of the HIV status. I would like to urge all stakeholders to call to an end double standards of wealthy nations that spend a lot of resources to respond to HIV yet they are at the fore front of fuelling stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.Pressure groups and all concerned citizens should make their voices heard, loud and clear, in defending the rights of people living with HIV. Governments must defend the rights of students who are HIV positive and it is our responsibility to hold them accountable. What can we do about this case?Tayson MudarikiriSAYWHATInformation and Advocacy Department